Enchanted

According to the wise shopkeeper at La Tierra Mineral Gallery in Taos, New Mexico, the smoky quartz crystal has a relaxing effect, aiding in meditation. It helps us to make our dreams into reality, stimulates pride, and is especially useful for grounding and draining away negative energy. I would attribute the same properties overall to our trip to Albuquerque and Taos a few weeks ago. 

Now that Connie and Arturo have retired back to Albuquerque, Andres and I have the wonderful opportunity to visit the Land of Enchantment more frequently than in the past.  And we get to see the extended Montoya and Ortega clans with a little more regularity, so hopefully we'll become a little more familiar to them (California/New York outliers that we are)!  We spent several relaxed days visiting with the whole family before driving up north to Taos.  Our first stop was El Santuario de Chimayo, an adobe mission built in 1816 that is revered as a healing

shrine.  It is considered the most important Catholic pilgrimage site in the United States and is also a National Historic Landmark.  It's particularly important to Andres' family and it was a peaceful and contemplative stop on our journey.

Our stay at Hacienda del Sol in Taos was dreamy.  A small, extremely charming and comfortable B&B, it virtually backs up onto Taos Mountain - a splendid vista to encounter morning, noon or night.  I had been wanting to visit Taos for many years (long before I married a New Mexican) and it did not disappoint. I even found out that it's known as an energy vortex, which might explain why I have felt drawn there (depending on one's definition of a vortex, which I am not equipped to explain).

We also visited the Taos Pueblo, which is "the only living Native American community designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and a National Historic Landmark."  The part that really boggles the mind and inspires deep perspective on the history of North American settlement is that the Pueblo has been continuously inhabited for over 1,000 years.  About 10-15 families currently live there and we were only permitted access to some of the public areas.  At first I felt a little awkward and invasive talking to some of the locals, asking them questions such as "how do you manage without running water or electricity?" and "do the young people stay at the Pueblo and raise their own families?" and taking photos of their adobe village.  But then I considered all the times when non-New Yorkers have asked me "where do you get your groceries?" and "what was it like to grow up in this city?", not to mention all the visitors who walk around taking pictures, and I felt slightly less intrusive.  We are each a curiosity to the Other, the ways we live equal parts foreign, mysterious and inconceivable.

The last leg of our trip was a return to Albuquerque, where we got to visit with Grandma Montoya one more time, and partook of some of her wisdom on the best methods for cooking green chile. Believe me, this is a highly specialized and significant ritual.   You do it wrong, and Grandma will not let you forget it. You do not want to admit to Grandma that you are cooking it with chicken broth, for example. Boy, is she tough.  Someday I hope to have the courage to prepare food for her.  Until then, I leave that job to Andres.  Anyway, we had a great time with her.  Here we are in her backyard, posing with Connie, Arturo (and their beloved sidekick Tiny, who never gets left behind).

We love you and we'll be back!